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Art Psychotherapist

Employer
Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Location
London
Salary
£47,154 to £52,936 a year p.a inc HCAS pro rata
Closing date
29 Jun 2022

View more

Grade
Band 7
Contract Type
Permanent
Hours
Part Time
Central London Arts psychotherapies service are excited to offer the opportunity to join the team in this varied 3 day Art Psychotherapy post.

The successful candidate will be offering Art psychotherapy across a 14 bed Rehabilitation inpatient unit (1.5 days) and Community arts Psychotherapy service serving North Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster (1.5 days) with the opportunity to offer bridging work between these services.

The post includes assessment , treatment and evaluation in order to offer Arts Psychotherapeutic to patients with complex mental health needs.

Individual and group work should draw on evidence based approaches as part of the adult mental health Arts Psychotherapies provision within the Central London Arts therapies, specifically within rehabilitation and community Psychotherapies Service, including the use MBT models.

The post holder will have prior experience of working in an NHS community setting, and be able to work autonomously holding a caseload of community clients.

Main duties of the job

The post holder work load will include assessment and treatment of people with complex mental health needs in the community and experiencing a rehabilitation admission associated with acute mental states.

Individual and group work should draw on evidence based approaches as part of the inpatient adult mental health Arts Psychotherapies provision within the Central London Arts, specifically within rehabilitation and community Psychotherapies Service.

Within the rehabilitation unit the post holder will be encouraged to contribute to the general ethos/culture of the unit, supporting the MDT to think creatively about the clients rehabilitation back into the community.

The post holder will take up existing Art Psychotherapy provision and also support Arts psychotherapy trainees and honoraries. There is the expectation to develop strong links should with other adult mental health services where patients are referred to.

The art therapy service will include doing systematic assessment, treatment and evaluation of group work, using art therapy. The post holder will be also required to manage and clinically supervise allocated staff, specifically art therapy trainees, 20 day placement psychotherapist, and regularly undertake arts psychotherapies research/audit as part of the Trust Arts Therapies research strategy.

About us

The Central London Arts Psychotherapy service consists of an experienced and well respected, diverse team of therapists, providing music, art, drama and dance-movement therapy for adults with mental health needs in Central London across a variety of inpatient and community services.

Monthly team meetings include CPD and Staff support.

Specialist clinical supervision is provided within the Trust.

The service is committed to offering a broad range of training and research opportunities, and also has a good range of networks and initiatives to support staff wellbeing.

As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings

Job description Job responsibilities

To provide art therapy including assessment, treatment and evaluation of group and individual work for patients within specialist local community mental health teams and inpatient rehabilitation service for a range of diagnoses including Personality Disorder.
  • Undertake the supervision of students.
  • Undertake arts therapy/psychotherapy research/audit as per the Trust research strategy for the arts therapies/psychotherapies and participate in research and audit at the Waterview Centre.
  • To undertake delegated management responsibilities when needed

Overview of Main Responsibilities:
  • To assess patients referred to the services with respect to developing an appropriate treatment plan taking into account risk factors, complexity of presentation, patient need, and service priorities.
  • To deliver art therapy for patients using evidence based approaches
  • To develop a high level of specialist clinical skill relevant to the range of diagnoses presenting in the local community services/ inpatient rehab particularly personality disorder and psychosis.
  • To contribute specialist knowledge of Art Psychotherapy to the overall treatment of each patient through contribution to clinical meetings.
  • To work in conjunction with the Community Arts Therapies service, accepting and forwarding referrals as necessary.
  • To contribute to the development of the arts therapies reasearch by facilitating placements for arts therapy students, offering opportunities for participant observation.
  • Clinical supervision of students.
  • To be responsible for clinical input to the Trusts research strategy for the arts therapies supervising allocated staff.

  • Clinical responsibilities
  • To provide group and/or individual art therapy to patients, planning and reviewing treatment in conjunction with the patient, inpatient rehab unit and the community team in the context of their full treatment plan.
  • To offer specialist treatment for those who would benefit from psychological therapy but find primarily verbal psychotherapy difficult to access, I.e. those with florid psychosis including e.g. extreme thought disorder, catatonic states, cognitive difficulties, emotional withdrawal, language problems etc.
  • As an experienced clinician to be adept at working intensively and flexibly to sustain involvement with those who are at high risk of disengaging from treatment.
  • To assess each patients suitability for individual or group art therapy and to ascertain from the ongoing review process a patients emotional stability, use of the therapy and ability to work with others towards the agreed aims of treatment.
  • To refer on to other appropriate services after assessment or on discharge
  • To assess risk and adopt appropriate measures to maintain a safe and therapeutically sensitive environment for all when faced with challenging behaviour, for example verbal abuse, deliberate self-harm, violence, aggression or threatening behaviour. To contribute to the overall team risk assessment.
  • To work with the client to understand the content and context of their communication using the art making as a focus.
  • To use sound judgement and interpretative skills to respond to art making and patient interaction as a means of developing self-awareness and greater understanding of self in relation to other.
  • To work and think responsibly and constructively with the relevant teams and any carers involved, drawing on clinical experience and theoretical knowledge to highlight and not collude with potentially destructive mechanisms of defence.
  • To manage time limited therapy with due consideration to the ending in the context of the overall treatment programme.
  • To offer supervision to other team members to assist in processing the emotional impact of clinical work with people with severe personality disturbance and/or psychotic disorders through applying skills and knowledge from training and own personal psychotherapy.
  • To work constructively and flexibly with people from different cultural, social and religious backgrounds, being particularly alert to special vulnerabilities e.g. refugee status, war-related trauma etc.
  • To integrate students into appropriate clinical situations whilst giving a level of support to ensure the safety of and benefit to both students and patients.
  • To write reports and contribute to the writing of reports as required by the community Arts Psychotherapy service.

  • Managerial and Administrative
  • To report complaints and incidents, following correct procedure, having sought advice from line manager.
  • To have a working knowledge of, and adhere to, current legislation applicable to clinical area, including Trust Risk policies, Mental Health Act, CPA, health and safety, clinical governance and data protection.
  • To ensure own ethical practice by working within the Professional Associations Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Clinical Practice and abiding by the Health Professions Councils and Trusts Confidentiality policies.
  • To be competent in the use of IT equipment and systems.
  • To maintain accurate patient records including clinical note keeping, report writing, data collection and CPA in accordance with relevant national and Trust policies.
  • To take an active part in own line management supervision including own appraisal.
  • To work in harmony with colleagues and develop constructive professional relationships.
  • To undertake any other duties in negotiation with the Team Manager.

  • Training
  • To educate other professionals about arts psychotherapy (through regular workshops /presentations etc)
  • To provide clinical supervision to students and any allocated art psychotherapist.
  • To provide further student training with co-working facility.
  • To make full and appropriate use of regular art psychotherapy clinical supervision
  • To identify training and development needs through the supervision and appraisal process and ensure they are linked to service objectives.
  • Ensure training needs are met through negotiation with the Clinical Lead Arts Therapist and the Principal Arts Psychotherapist
  • To undertake Continuous Professional Development as required for professional registration.
  • To maintain skills and proficiencies as required to practise.
  • To undertake trust mandatory training as required e.g. breakaway and de-escalation techniques
  • To undertake further training in the field of personality disorder / psychosis and other emerging clinical special interests.
  • Contribute to the training of students from other disciplines.

  • Policy
  • To understand and implement policies and procedures of the Arts Therapy service.
  • To maintain knowledge and awareness of operational issues relating to clinical practice.
  • To ensure the safekeeping and confidentiality of all records and to advise honorary and trainee staff on these requirements, in accordance with the Access to Health Records Act 1990 and the Freedom of Information Act 2005.
  • To adhere to and act on clinical governance and initiatives being particularly mindful where they pertain to art psychotherapy and to advise trainees on these requirements.
  • To demonstrate good knowledge in own practice on matters related to differences and equalities in both therapy and professional relationships. This includes age, disability, culture and race, sexual orientation and religion/belief systems.
  • To assist trainee staff in the implementation of the above.

  • Service Development
  • To attend Arts therapies departmental and trust-wide business meetings and actively contribute to the development of the arts therapy service in Westminster.
  • From time to time review the art therapy provision in conjunction with the Lead Arts Therapist, Team Manager and colleagues, proposing and making appropriate changes.
  • When making changes to consider the views and needs of patients, carers, trustwide and local policies and the aims of the whole clinical programme.
  • To ensure good lines of communication in adapting to organisational changes.

  • Management of resources - staff
  • To allocate patients to trainee art therapists and to be responsible for their caseloads providing management as well as clinical supervision.
  • To provide clinical supervision as required to art therapists working in the locality.
  • To compile assessments and reports on art therapy trainees.
  • Attend meetings organised by training institutions and contribute to good relations between training institutions and the clinical placement providers.

  • Management of resources - Financial/Physical
  • To be responsible for the physical storage and setting out of art therapy equipment.
  • To ensure the confidentiality of peoples work within the therapy space and the safe and confidential storage of peoples work during therapy and post-discharge.
  • To be responsible for and check the stock of art materials on a regular basis, advising what needs replenishing and ordering new stock.

  • Research and development
  • To be aware of developments in good practice and adopt new practices where appropriate.
  • To show flexibility and openness to new information based on research that informs the above.
  • To participate in evidence based practice initiatives and department, directorate and clinical service audits.
  • To participate actively in the research strategy for the arts therapies/psychotherapies and to assist and develop research proposals and audits relating to your clinical area.
  • To disseminate research information as appropriate with arts therapists and other clinicians so that clinical practice is appropriately informed by current developments in this field


  • Person Specification Education and qualifications Essential
    • Good honours degree in Art/Music/Drama/Dance or equivalent performing/work experience
    • MA/MSc in one of the Arts Therapies/Psychotherapies
    • Eligibility for State Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
    • Relevant specialist training or qualifications
    Desirable


      Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

      333-G-RB-0207

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